Counting Down
by JustADreamAway735
Summary: In a world where people are born with a timer on their wrists that counts down the exact second of when one meets their soulmate...would you accept your fate? Or, like a certain few, would you merely disregard it as nonsense? For a certain boy named Jack, he isn't sure exactly what to believe, when he only has minutes left on his own timer.


He really only sat on the park bench right now to get out of the house.

Nicholas chuckled as Thia kept fluttering around the kitchen earlier at breakfast, chattering on how excited she was for him, what her predictions were of his partner's appearance, why he needed to use _this _cologne, etc. Sandy said nothing, of course, but Jack could tell that there was a hidden smile behind the mug of tea. It wasn't until Aster, Thia's boyfriend, asked her to sit down did her jabbering slow down to normal speech.

At that point, Thia held up her and Aster's matching wrist bands–both marked at 0, of course–and expressed her best wishes to Jack and whomever he would find. And, as expected, Jack left the house without another word.

He really loved his adopted family–they just drove him _nuts _sometimes.

Because really, why was there such a hype about this anyways?

It irked him to no end to hear how people stressed the importance of this meeting. Even with the romanticized versions floating around in the media, all that would actually happen would be him meeting a girl (or guy), having a mutual tolerance for them, and getting married eventually and having a couple of kids, all because the little timers implanted on their wrists told them it was right.

Unlike most of the world, Jack didn't _want _to be with a person just because some numbers told him it was the right time; if he ever wanted to fall in love, it would be on his own time, at his own pace. Besides, he had been fine already 18 years on his own …if he was gonna sacrifice his freedom, it had better well be for a good enough cause.

Jack glanced at his wrist: 5 minutes until he'd meet his soul mate.

He idly drummed his fingers on the empty bench, whistling a random tune as he scanned the park. It was quiet today, it being a Wednesday morning during early January. As expected, the park was empty at the moment, save for the few mothers supervising their children, or the lone hot dog vendor who mindlessly looked at his phone.

4 minutes, 30 seconds.

His head lolled backwards, his eyes shutting to the world. Jack breathed in the frigid wintry air, the kind that bit and pinched every inch of his expanded lungs, and held it for a bit. He figured the girl (or guy) would come by any minute now, probably sit down next to him and smile politely. They'd talk about the weather, grab some lunch, go to meet her family, then finally go to meet his.

His eyes cracked open a tad to glance at the time.

3 minutes, 50 seconds.

Literally, any minute now.

As the timer, which had been counting down this moment ever since he was born, ticked away the last three minutes, Jack silently mused about what kind of life they'd have together. A house in the suburbs? Most likely. Two kids, maybe three? There was a good chance of that. Love? They'd just have to wait and see about tha–

"AHH!"

This yelp came from not too far behind him, at the base of a rather large hill he knew for a fact was easy to fall down on. This sudden outburst was high-pitched and woven with both surprise and pain, followed by the quietest of whimpers and moans.

He tensed, then ran to go check on the person in question. Though he was turned off by the sound of girl's screaming in general, instinct pushed him to run to the girl, to pick her up and make sure she was alright. God, he hoped it wasn't anything too terrible.

Pushing the last tree branch aside, Jack caught sight of the person in question.

The air left his lungs in an ungracious manner.

Neither her askew, long blonde hair, nor her wrinkled dress took away from his impression. This girl, who managed to fall in the most perfect heap, was…absolutely beautiful. Though not in a literal sense, for the boy who was so focused on waiting for his counter to finish up, he felt time slow down incredibly slowly–which, in all honesty, was perfectly fine with him.

Just staring at her, taking in every single detail one can get from a first impression, Jack felt like an empty vessel, so light that the smallest of winds could blow him away. His feet felt all tingly, like if he was standing at the top of the Empire State building and was looking down at the street below. Stomach pulsating with an uncomfortable heat, his head felt dizzy and rubbed his forehead to ease the ache, noticing how cold his palms had become.

Jack couldn't even feel the normal _thump-thump _of his heartbeat.

When another whimper escaped her delicate pink lips (_Just where were these adjectives coming from?_), he finally came to his sense and slowly made his way over to her, asking, "A-are you…Are you alright, Miss?"

He inwardly slapped himself for asking such a stupid question. _Of course_ she wasn't alright, she cried out in pain thirty seconds ago, for God's sake! He backtracked himself by asking, "What I mean is, is there any way I can help you?"

"Oh no, it's okay," she said with a weak assuring smile. "I'll be fine, I'm a fast healer anyways. It's just…my ankle, I think I might have sprained it. Nothing to worry about, Mister…?"

"Jack. My name's Jack." He knelt down beside her, focusing on her swollen left ankle, which was already red and covered with tight, shiny skin. Although he had a serious facade while observing her, Jack couldn't help but let a small smile worm its way through at the sound of her voice.

"Lucky for you, it doesn't look broken," he said. "I mean, you still need to wrap it up, but it's not as bad as it could be. I'd say a few weeks and you'll be as good as new!"

"Why, thank you for your diagnosis, Doctor Jack," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Now, if you could just prescribe something for my clumsiness!"

Jack was pretty surprised to find himself laughing with her–he only sometimes, if ever, found other people to have a genuinely good sense of humor. The warmth pitted in his stomach blossomed like a carnation. And had he been paying attention, he would've noticed that there was only a minute and a half left on his timer.

Their laughter, however, was cut short when her bad ankle accidentally brushed up against a rather firm section of dirt, and she winced.

"Do you need me to call anybody for help?" he frowned.

"No…No, it's okay. You being here is helping me already."

Jesus, did he feel himself _blush_? In a rare moment of vulnerability, Jack averted his eyes for a second, then slowly lifted them back up through his lashes. "Can I, uh…Can I ask you a question?"

"I think you just did, but alright! I'm all ears, Jack!"

"What were you doing that made you fall down this hill in the first place?"

"Well…" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as she said, "It's kind of a long story. You see, I was trying to get away from my Mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds bad but let me explain! She was making a fuss this morning about something important that was supposed to happen today, which made me more nervous than I should've been. All these negative words and worse case scenarios were coming out of her mouth and I couldn't stay in there any longer…so I ran off to clear my head.

"Here's the thing though: I've never really been outside my house before since Mother's..rather protective of me, and I got lost pretty quickly. I ended up here after walking for a little while, but still she was able to find me somehow! She was around this corner of trees, and I hadn't any other hiding place other than down this hill so…"

"So you decided to jump down this huge thing instead of talking to her? This huge hill that is probably close to a hundred feet tall, with a sixty degree slope?" Jack finished slowly, his mouth hanging slack. This girl was going to be the death of him, with her sweet smile contrasted with that kick butt grittiness of hers.

"Hey, in my defense I didn't know how tall and steep it was!" The girl ran her fingers down her scalp to her neck, and sighed. "But I know I've messed up big time. I've made Mother upset, and I've probably lost this opportunity I've waited 18 years for!"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I think Old Mother Goose can handle a little bit of rebellion once in a while. And anyways, what would this 'oh-so-important' opportunity be? I'm sure it'll turn out fine in the end."

"Well, today was supposed to be the day I met my–"

The sound of two timers went off at the same time.

Fate was kind to them that day, as both their wrist bands were flashing '0' at the exact same beat.

A smile, with realization spreading like molasses, shone on his face. "You were saying, Miss…?"

"Rapunzel." An identical grin, albeit with more excitement, was on her lips as well. "My name is Rapunzel, Jack."

"Alright, Rapunzel." Such an odd name that fit so well. The beginning was soft, like his first impression of her, the last syllable biting his tongue like a ginger snap.

Jack, still knelt at eye level with her, almost shyly offered his hand to her. "First thing's first, we gotta get you to a hospital, and stat."

She accepted it with all the grace he would expect from her. "And so goes another day in the life of Doctor Jack."

Despite it being an impropriety in any other case, Jack felt a familiar ease of wrapping his arms underneath her and cradling her small body close to his. If it meant walking ten miles to the closest emergency room, he would do it ten times over if it meant feeling her flush against him.

Rapunzel tucked her head in his shoulder. "I'm really glad I chose today to run from Mother," she murmured. "Not so much for spraining my ankle, but I guess it was worth it too."

_God, _she was adorable. A little crazy and risk-taking, but adorable nonetheless. And the best part? She was _all_ his.

She was warmth and summer sun to him, the sweetness in her hair and eyes and smile making his heart beat almost painfully fast. This girl, whom he hadn't even known for more than five minutes, suddenly encompassed his entire being. An hour ago, Jack would've rolled his eyes at this nonsense but this…this was definitely real.

They exited the park, Rapunzel still in his arms, and, no surprise, garnered a few odd looks coupled with even more knowing glances; neither of them felt any embarrassment.

Nevermind any of his previous inhibitions, nevermind the idea of settling down, nevermind sacrificing his freedom, nevermind being with a person just because some numbers told them so.

He _wanted _to settle down with this strange girl.

He _wanted_ to share his freedom with her.

He _didn't care _if they happened to meet because of some numbers. In the end, they were the ones who chose the pace of their relationship; the numbers just so happened to signal the start of it.

_Maybe, _Jack thought, as he pushed a cross walk button with his hip. _The timers were right, for once. Maybe this won't be so bad_

* * *

**_A/N: Tada! Another fic that I uploaded from my tumblr :) Again, I felt like it was strong enough to be separate from "Drabbles", so yeah! I was originally debating whether or not to make this sadder but...ehh, I didn't wanna be evil. Welp, that be all!  
_**

**_Until next time_**

**_-(insert real name here)_**


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